Euro Hits 10-Year Mark

Introduced with great fanfare after the stroke of midnight on 1 January 2002, the euro, Europe’s common currency, is still in the headlines after 10 years but the word “crisis” is part and parcel of any story.

While the euro is still worth more against the dollar today than at its introduction ($1.29 versus $1.18), it closed at ¥99.47, a 10-year low against the yen.

In addition, from a 2011 high of ¥123.33 and $1.4940, the euro fell 19% and 14% respectively, closing at ¥99.47 and $1.2944. Heavy selling of the euro against the yen left the dollar at a one-month low of ¥76.90.

The anniversary may go virtually unnoticed; the only official act of celebration is the quiet introduction of a two-euro commemorative coin.

The coronavirus is now affecting 104 countries and territories across the globe and many travelers are postponing or cancelling their travel plans as a result.
In some cases, a traveler is holding off because travel to his destination is simply not possible due to quarantine and containment rules; in others, it’s simply a desire not to go somewhere where one might end up with the coronavirus or trapped in a quarantined …

In early May, Warren Buffett divested all of his investment firm’s holdings in the four major U.S. airlines, warning that the “world has changed” for the aviation industry due to the coronavirus crisis. In mid May, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said he saw a bumpy road ahead for the airline industry and predicted that a major carrier would not survive 2020 as a result.
It appears Buffett and Calhoun were on …